MID-FLORIDA GOLDEN RETRIEVER CLUB - JUNE 2020
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JUNE 2020 MID-FLORIDA GOLDEN RETRIEVER CLUB
In this issue . . .
Mark your calendars
President’s Message
1st Virtual Club Meeting
Summer Specialty Postponed
Welcome New Members
Virtual Therapy Dog Visit
2021 GRCA National Specialty
August Trials Cancelled
Volunteering Opportunities
Attention Rally Exhibitors
Youth Circuit
Accolades
Aleah Rowe and “Maddie”
Mark Your Calendars
General Meeting – September 19 – DeLand, FL
MFGRC Summer Specialty – September 25 – Tampa, FL
MFGRC Fall Agility Trial 1– October 9-10-11 – Weirsdale, FL
MFGRC Fall Agility Trial 2 – October 16-17-18 – Weirsdale, FL
MFGRC Winter Hunt Test – November 13-15 – Montverde, FL
MFGRC Specialty – December 11 – Orlando, FL
MFGRC Christmas Party and Annual Meeting – December 12 – Sorrento, FL
(Tentative schedule – subject to change)
COVER STORY – President Ann Rowe’s grandchildren – Conner, Dede, Aleah and their Golden girl
“Maddie” experiencing sunset on the Appalachian Trail - a golden moment!
President’s Message . . .
Summer has arrived along
with the heat, hurricane season,
civil unrest, and a pandemic
that won’t go away. Social
distancing and masks have
Looking forward . . . become the new norm.
But let us be a bit optimistic
here … Our National may have
been cancelled, but we will be
privileged to host the 2021
National (our groundwork has
already been laid). Our
Obedience and Rally trials may
have been cancelled also, but
we anticipate better trials next
year and the dates are set. Our
June Specialty was postponed,
but we look forward to its new
date September 25.
Photo by Courtney Roxby
And (drum roll please) in the midst of all this social distancing, we were able to
conduct our first virtual club meeting successfully! It was great to see so many
familiar faces!
So let us try and keep a positive attitude, and look to the future. Stay safe, chins
up, hug your dogs and your loved ones, and forge ahead my friends!
Ann Rowe
MFGRC
Holds Successful First
“Virtual” Club Meeting
On May 9, the Mid-Florida Golden Retriever Club did what many corporations across America and the
world have been doing while people are working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic – a virtual
meeting.
Using the popular online conferencing tool Zoom, 34 club members re-connected with each other, saw
familiar faces and heard familiar voices for the first time since dog activities were paused due to the pandemic.
After club president Ann Rowe led the meeting through an agenda of club business, members used the
remaining time for general discussion and socializing.
The club is tentatively planning to hold another virtual meeting in July. Club members will be notified by
email.
MFGRC Summer Specialty Postponed to September
The Mid-Florida Golden Retriever Club’s Summer
Specialty, originally scheduled for June 12, has been
postponed to the intended date of Friday, September
25, due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Specialty is
part of the Sunshine State Classic at the Florida State
Fairgrounds in Tampa.
The entire cluster has been rescheduled for
September 23-27.
Judging the Specialty for the MFGRC will be Jan
Paulk of Santa Fe, N.M., while judging sweepstakes will
be Joanne Cava, a Golden Retriever breeder from Fort
Mill, S.C.
MFGRC vice president Robin Burket is chairing the
Specialty with co-chair Michele Panetta.
Welcome New Club Members!
The Mid-Florida Golden Retriever Club welcomed new members to its ranks during the
“virtual” general meeting held on May 9.
The new members were:
Deb Farris, Nebo, NC (sponsored by Lisa Boudreau) (returning member)
Heidi Buck, Palm Harbor, FL (sponsored by Jeff Rushe)
Karen Brady, Brandon, FL (sponsored by Caroline Kendrick) (returning member)
Janice and Michael Smith, Tierra Verde, FL (sponsored by Lisa Boudreau)
Georgia Jacobson, Orlando, FL (sponsored by Ann Rowe)
Deb Farris
Karen Brady
Heidi Buck
Janice Smith
Georgia Jacobson
Unable to Visit in Person,
Jill Kennon Produces Virtual
Therapy Dog Video
EDITOR’S NOTE: MFGRC member Jill Kennon and her Goldens Breeze
and Moon are usually active therapy team volunteers. Due to the
pandemic, they’ve had to pause their therapy visits so Jill decided to
make a video she could post on YouTube to send around for a
“virtual” therapy dog visit. She shared the script and some stills from
the video with Golden Tales.
. . . from Jill Kennon
Hi, My name is Jill and these are my dogs Breeze…and Moon.
We are therapy team volunteers working in animal assisted
therapy and activities through Therapy Patient Connections in
Palm Coast, Fla., and formerly of Mid South Therapy Dogs in
Memphis, TN.
Due to the COVID-19 situation, we are no longer able to visit any
of our friends in hospitals, schools, libraries and senior care
facilities. At first, we wanted to do a small “hello” to some of
those friends, but this idea has blossomed into a very LARGE
THANK YOU to all of those people working on the front line and
simply to all of those people who are lonely, sad and worried
these days.
So welcome to our virtual therapy visit!
Here’s Breeze. She has the BEST smile.
Breeze is an 8-year-old Golden Retriever and
has been my therapy partner since she was
19 months old. She is amazing and has done
hundreds of therapy visits in hospitals,
hospice, memory care, assisted living,
nursing homes, schools, libraries, stress
relief events for nursing and medical
students and grief camps for children.
This is Moon – she’s just three years old and has only been a therapy
dog for a year. She has more limited experience, but unlimited love. She
IS the supreme snuggle bear.
Due to the virus and current restrictions, the girls and I are no longer
able to do our volunteer work. We also can’t do other fun activities
together like obedience and agility classes and trials or dock diving
competitions. Our most favorite activity of going to the beach was not
possible for the last month. We are doing our best to stay busy, taking
lots of walks, chasing lizards, and begging for blueberries. We try to
keep ourselves entertained, but most of all, we love to go swimming!
So to every nurse, doctor and healthcare professional nationwide who
continues to care for all of us in emergency rooms, hospitals and senior
care facilities and to those of you we can’t visit now – the patients, kids,
teachers, librarians, grief counselors, hospice workers, physical and
occupational therapists, CNAs, neighbors and friends – these moments
of puppy love are for YOU. We can’t wait to hug you when this is all
over!
Update on GRCA National Specialty MFGRC Will Host 2021 GRCA National Specialty Thanks to the very generous gestures of the Cuyahoga Valley Golden Retriever Club and the Golden Retriever Club of America, the Mid-Florida Golden Retriever Club will get to host a GRCA National Specialty after all: the 2021 GRCA National has been moved to Florida and will be held at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala, FL. The MFGRC was originally slated to host the 2020 GRCA National Specialty in October but the event was canceled in April due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, the CVGRC, which was to host the 2021 event, agreed to move its event to 2022, with approval from the GRCA, so that the MFGRC could finish what it started and host the National in 2021. “We cannot thank the members of the Cuyahoga Valley Golden Retriever Club and the GRCA enough for allowing us to move our event to 2021,” said Pat Kopco, co-chair of the National Committee for the MFGRC. “We had done so much work and preparation to get ready to host the National this year and to have all of that go by the wayside would have been heartbreaking. “Now we’ll have 18 months to finish preparations and bring the GRCA National back with a big Florida welcome.” The 2021 GRCA National will take place over the last week of October, with the schedule to be announced in the coming months. MFGRC Cancels Obedience/Rally Trial Due to Pandemic The Mid-Florida Golden Retriever Club has canceled its annual AKC all-breed Obedience and Rally Trial due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The trial was to have been held Aug. 8-9 at the Obedience Club of Daytona in Daytona Beach. The MFGRC looks forward to next year’s al-breed Obedience and Rally Trial that will be held Aug. 14-15, 2021, at the Obedience Club of Daytona. Next year’s trial will have a panel of judges representing three states, including Michigan’s Susan Emerson, Kathryn Griner from Georgia and Ken Kincaid of Florida.
Volunteering . . .
Opportunities to Volunteer are Upcoming
October 9-10-11 and October 16-17-18 – Agility Trials at Grand
Oaks Resort in Weirsdale, FL. Volunteers are needed to work as
timers, scribes and gatekeepers. In addition, and most importantly,
volunteers are needed to help set up for the event on Thursday,
October 8, beginning at 1 p.m., and help pack up equipment after the
trial on Sunday, October 18.
November 14-15 – Hunt Test at Golden Oaks Ranch in Montverde, FL.
Volunteers are needed to work in several areas including as marshals,
handling birds, preparing and delivering lunches, etc. The club could
also use help in setting up equipment on Friday, November 13, and
cleaning up after the event ends on November 15.
Anyone interested in volunteering is asked to contact MFGRC club
secretary Andy Hall at andyhall58@hotmail.com
Want to Volunteer for the 2021 GRCA National?
Here’s how . . .
The Mid-Florida Golden Retriever Club is hosting the
2021 Golden Retriever Club of America National
Specialty in October of 2021 and needs help from all
members of the club.
Many members have already signed up for various
committees and activities related to the 2021 and have
already been involved in meetings and planning. But
more volunteer positions remain unfilled, both for
advance planning and for jobs the week of the event.
Volunteer coordinators Dot and Allison Hively are
maintaining an active list of volunteers and jobs. Anyone
wishing to volunteer can contact them via email – even if
you don’t know what area you’d like to help with, they
can tell you what is available and sign you up.
Dot and Allison can be reached via email at
2021goldenvolunteers@gmail.com.
The National Specialty will include more than a week of
competition, social events, clinics, seminars, shopping
and more. The majority of the event will be held at the
beautiful new World Equestrian Center in Ocala, FL.
Attention Rally Exhibitors . . .
From AKC . . . Rally® Novice Virtual Pilot Program
During this time of necessary social distancing,
we want to give our beginner AKC Rally®
exhibitors a reason to continue training their
dogs and to stay engaged with the sport of Rally.
The AKC Rally Novice Virtual pilot program will
provide these exhibitors an opportunity to stay-
at-home and enter an AKC Rally® event.
The pilot program is designed to have a Rally
Novice competitor set up a pre-designed AKC
Rally® course in the safety of their own yard,
record the performance and submit it to AKC. In
turn, AKC will assign a pre-selected AKC Rally
Judge to virtually review and score the team’s
Rally performance.
Once the required information is received, and
AKC will have five pre-designed official rally
courses published on the AKC website for the the dog’s records are verified for class eligibility,
exhibitor to choose from. The exhibitor will the video link will be assigned to a judge for
follow the setup instructions provided, video the review. The judge will score the team’s
performance, upload the video to YouTube, set performance and will provide a report to
the required YouTube viewing options, and AKC. All qualifying scores will be recorded on
submit the video link with the entry form and fee the dog’s AKC record and applied toward the
to AKC. Rally Novice title requirements. AKC will notify
exhibitors of the results of their submission.
This pilot program will end at midnight
December 31, 2020 and all video submissions
must be received by that date and time. We are
excited to offer this virtual option to our Rally
Novice exhibitors!
If you have questions after reviewing the
information, please write to Rally@akc.org
Back to practice! Paula Black and Courtney Roxby with
their young Goldens “Eli” and “Caly” at their Rally Class.YOUTH CIRCUIT . . . from the younger side
Karli’s Journey
From showing chickens to
showing dogs
Karli got her first win in the ring with Iris, a Golden belonging to Morgan Brooks, in Brooksville in January.
Debbie O'Hanlon and her 14-year-old daughter Karli To learn as much as they could, the two started
Pixley have had quite a journey to the Mid-Florida going to dog shows around Florida in September of
Golden Retriever Club. 2019.
Debbie and Karli, who live in Inverness, FL, were “At the third show we went to, we were blessed to
showing chickens when Karli raised the question to meet (handlers) Kelly Barrera and Janice Granda,”
her mom about switching to showing dogs. Karli’s Debbie said. “They took Karli under their wing. I
interest was piqued by her best friend, who had a wanted her to know all the work that would go into
show Beagle. getting a dog ready for a show. She started helping
them feed, clean, groom and get dogs to the ring.
“When she inquired, we were into chicken showing, After one show, she knew this was what she loved
which was very time consuming,” said Debbie. and that Golden Retriever was the dog for her.”
“Chickens were just too fragile and would pass away
too often. We care for all our animals like they are Debbie and Karli joined the MFGRC in October of
family and all of the losses just started to be too 2019 at the Fun Field Day held in Ocala.
much to handle.
“We joined MFGRC so we could start meeting people
“One day I told her if we can rehome most of the that had Goldens,” Debbie said. “I asked on the
chickens, we will look into showing dogs.” Facebook page about needing someone to train
Karli and that led me to (handler/breeder) Morgan
Debbie actually had some history with dogs and dog Brooks.
shows – when she was a young teen, she showed
dogs, and her first job at age 16 was as a vet tech, “Morgan offered to train her and also had puppies
which she did for more than two years. on the way,” she said. “For the next four months, weKarli hopes to make a champion out of her Golden puppy Guapo
could to help Kelly and Janice, and we spent time In addition to Conformation, Debbie and Karli have also
with Morgan and the puppies. When we brought leaned into some other dog activities. They volunteered
(puppy) Guapo home in December, Karli and I at the MFGRC Hunt Test last November, where Debbie
decided it was time for her to get in the ring. worked as a marshal and Karli helped collect ducks.
With Bon, they competed in FastCat. And with their
“So, we contacted Morgan and she was gracious puppy Guapo, they are taking private Obedience
enough to allow Karli to show her dog, Iris,” she classes, teaching him the tricks he needs for his Novice
said. “In four shows, Karli made it through Novice Trick Dog title and doing an online scent work class.
Junior Showmanship.”
What does Karli enjoy the most about working with
After that, Karli wanted to try showing a different dogs and what are her goals?
dog for the experience and a family friend loaned
her Bon, their Australian Shepherd. After they had “Being able to bond with them and become one with
worked together in a couple of shows, Karli and Bon them,” she said. “I love to learn their personality so we
won her Intermediate Junior Showmanship class at can work better together.
a show Feb. 22 in Tallahassee.
“I would like to create a champion out of Guapo,
That show, the last one they were able to attend become a better handler, mentor and continue what
before the COVID-19 pandemic paused dog Morgan has started with creating a healthier Golden by
activities, was Debbie’s proudest moment as a breeding.” The journey continues!
mother related to dogs. “Watching her be truly
committed to learning this sport made me very
proud,” she said.
Since showing for the first time in January of this
year, Karli has shown three breeds in one day for
handlers (Golden, Viszla, Lab). She has won three
times in Novice Junior Showmanship and the one
win in Intermediate Junior Showmanship. Debbie O'Hanlon (left) and
her daughter Karli PixleyMFGRC
The Mid-Florida Golden
Retriever Club, Inc. (MFGRC)
was founded in 1984 by a
group of Golden Retriever
enthusiasts who came
together in order to pursue
ways of promoting and
enjoying their Goldens.
We are currently a member
club of both the Golden
Retriever Club of America
(GRCA) and the American
Kennel Club (AKC). MFGRC
is licensed by the AKC to hold
conformation shows,
obedience and rally trials,
agility trials, and retriever
hunting tests. We also hold
Working Certificate / Working
Certificate Excellent tests in
accordance with the rules of
the GRCA, and also offer a
breed/obedience match every
year.
In addition, MFGRC offers an
ongoing slate of seminars,
clinics and "fun days" to
encompass all aspects of the
Golden Retriever. We
promote the versatile
competition golden, the
gentleman's hunting retriever,
and the consummate family
pet.
Aleah Rowe and “Maddie”
Objectives of the Mid-Florida
Golden Retriever Club
To encourage and promote the purebred Golden Retriever; and to
do all possible to bring their natural qualities to perfection. To urge
members and breeders to accept the standard of the breed as
approved by the American Kennel Club as the only Standard of
Excellence by which Golden Retrievers shall be judged; and to do all
in its power to protect and advance the interests of the breed by
encouraging sportsmanlike competition at dog shows, obedience
trials, and field events. ESTABLISHED 1984
Find us online at: WWW.MFGRC.ORGAccolades . . . Charlie and Barb White’s Mac (GJJCH Bonnie and Walter Scherer’s Tahani Jan Casey’s Golden boy BT (BlueTrack Omni's at McGuire's Landing DSA DJA (Malagold Tahani CD RN JH WC CGC Light Up The Sky NA NAJ BCAT DM CGC TKN) received his Dock Senior CCA TD) earned her Obedience CD DSX CGC TKI) earned his Dock Senior Excellent (DSX) title at Ocala Dog Ranch title at a trial in Jupiter, FL. Excellent 2 title at Ocala Dog Ranch. while adhering to COVID-19 protocols. Carol Atkinson’s Golden girl Tigger MJ Douglas’ Golden boy Tag Julie and Tom Wangelin’s girl Dharma (Snobird's Eye of the Tiger SIN) earned (Firemark’s Looks Like Fun N Games) earned her Barn Hunt RATN title at the her Trick Dog Novice title in a private earned his Dock Diving Master title in a Dog Training Club of Tampa’s trial. evaluation that incorporated social trial held at Ocala Dog Ranch. Dharma is trained by Marie Blevins distancing and Eileen Geoghegan.
Accolades . . .
Each year, the MFGRC provides rosettes to eligible club members who earn new titles for their Goldens
during the course of the year. In order to be eligible, a club member must volunteer to work at one club
event during the year or perform the equivalent amount of work behind-the-scenes.
Robin Burket's Golden girls Halia’s (L-R) Tahani (Malagold Tahani CD RN JH WC CGC CCA TD), Orion (Gazn Journeys
Christmas In Killarney CCA CGC TKN (Eve, of Orion CD RA CGC) and Kody (SHR U-CH Star Crowned Kodiak Island CD BN RN
left), and Ivory Blaze Twice As Nice CCA JH WC CGC CCA) model their MFGRC New Title Rosettes from 2019. They belong
(Anni) proudly show their MFGRC new to Elizabeth Scherer (Onion and Kody) and her parents Bonnie and Walter
title rosettes. Scherer (Tahani).
Ten-year-old Puccini (GCH Questan’s Virginia McQueeney’s Golden girl London Mel Lucas and her service dog Godric
Madama Butterfly BISS BVISS DN), who (Monark's English Salt Water Taffy) earned earned Godric’s Trick Dog title with an
belongs to Julie and Tom Wangelin, her Barn Hunt RATI title in a trial held at the online training system.
earned her Novice dock diving title as a Dog Training Club of Tampa. London is
veteran at a dock diving trial held with trained by Marie Blevins and Destiny Martel
social distancing at 24K Retrievers in of 24K Retrievers.
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